silk
Listen:Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
silk/sɪlk/
▶noun
- 1 a fine, strong, soft lustrous fibre produced by silkworms in making cocoons.
- 2 thread or fabric made from this fibre.
- 3 (silks) garments made from silk, especially as worn by a jockey in the colours of a particular horse owner.
- 4 Brit. informal a Queen's (or King's) Counsel.
■ [so named because of the right accorded to wear a gown made of silk.]
- 5 (silks) the silky styles of the female maize flower.
– phrases
take silk Brit. become a Queen's (or King's) Counsel.
take silk Brit. become a Queen's (or King's) Counsel.
– derivatives
silken adjective.
silken adjective.
– origin OE sioloc, seolec, from late L. sericum, neut. of L. sericus, based on Gk Sēres, the name given to the inhabitants of the Far Eastern countries from which silk first came overland to Europe.
'silk' also found in these Oxford entries:
atlas moth
- barathea
- blue riband
- bluestocking
- bombazine
- braid
- caleche
- cecropia
- cellophane
- challis
- cheongsam
- chiffon
- cloth of gold
- court plaster
- crape
- crêpe de Chine
- dragline
- dubbing
- dupion
- emperor moth
- fibroin
- filature
- filoselle
- fishing line
- floss
- foulard
- georgette
- gimp
- greige
- grenadine
- grogram
- grosgrain
- guipure
- headband
- kakemono
- kapok
- lace
- lustring
- mantilla
- mercer
- moire
- ninon
- organza
- organzine
- ottoman
- panne
- parramatta
- patch
- peau-de-soie
- plush
